Glamour Travel With Four Boys

By John Besh

Nov. 4, 2013

MY father was a pilot, and when I was a child we never had family vacation road trips. We got to fly, and I thought that was so cool. My parents insisted that I had to wear a suit jacket. That rule stuck, and I still wear a jacket when I travel.

When I was starting out training as a chef, I had my share of flier mishaps. I remember flying into Frankfurt with my wife, Jennifer. We were recently married and I had the opportunity to study in Germany with my mentor, the chef Karl-Josef Fuchs.

We had a lot of bags with us, and the luggage carts were actually designed to make it easy to negotiate the many escalators at the airport. It was easy for most people, but not me. I missed the memo on how to secure luggage to the carts. As we were going up an escalator, our bags were sliding off the cart and going down the escalator, nearly annihilating the people who had the misfortune of being behind us. The only German I knew at the time was “Achtung,” and “Es tut mir leid,” loosely translated as “Attention. I’m sorry.” My wife wasn’t pleased.

She also wasn’t pleased with me when we were scheduled to go to France with our four boys, one of whom was an infant. For 12 years, we spent a considerable amount of time each year in Provence for my work and studies. From France, we would sometimes head off to Germany again. I know it sounds glamorous, and it was wonderful to be able to study in these regions. But it’s not glamorous. Training is really hard work, and so is traveling with children. It often takes both parents to help get them settled anywhere, let alone on a plane.

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John Besh, a chef and author, buying produce in Provence.CreditMaura McEvoy

One year my wife decided she would take all four boys alone to France so I could attend the James Beard Foundation Awards in New York City. I was to meet them later in Avignon. But the flight didn’t go so well for my wife, mostly because of ticketing issues for our infant and the fact that she was stuck in coach class with four boys.

I arrived in Avignon about one day after my family. Let’s just say my wife made it clear that was the last time she would fly alone with our children. I didn’t help matters when I told her I got an upgrade to business class on my later flight. We laugh about it now, but trust me, I was in the doghouse for a while. I can’t say I blame her.

I like talking to seatmates. Sometimes people recognize me from “Top Chef” or PBS, or maybe they’ve visited one of my restaurants in New Orleans. Others may have cooking technique or recipe questions from one of my books like “Cooking From the Heart.”

I actually met a close friend and associate, Jessica Bride Mayor, on a flight to New Orleans. We started talking and found out we had a lot of mutual friends. She also had an idea for a scholarship program. From that meeting, we eventually formed an organization called Chefs Move. It provides culinary scholarships and mentorships to minority youngsters in New Orleans.

I think we all get so busy with our own work that we miss opportunities in flight to get to know someone. You never know where that can lead and how you might be able to make a positive change in someone’s life. At a minimum, if you’re sitting next to me, we could always talk about the great food of New Orleans.

As told to Joan Raymond. Email: joan.raymond@nytimes.com

A version of this article appears in print on , Section B, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: Glamour Travel With Four Boys. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe